Sports

Closing Bell

What’s next in the NFL C-suite after Brian Rolapp’s departure…Scripps Sports, WNBA extend Friday night broadcasts in multiyear agreement…Pacers, Levy roll out special Finals concessions. Now former NFL Chief Media and Business Officer Brian Rolapp appears onstage at an SBJ conference with NFL Chief Revenue Officer Renie Anderson, who could see more responsibility after his […]

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2 months ago

June 13, 2025

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What’s next in the NFL C-suite after Brian Rolapp’s departure…Scripps Sports, WNBA extend Friday night broadcasts in multiyear agreement…Pacers, Levy roll out special Finals concessions.

Departing NFL Chief Media & Business Officer Brian Rolapp appears on stage at an SBJ conference with NFL Chief Revenue Officer Renie Anderson, who could see more responsibility after he leaves. — Now former NFL Chief Media and Business Officer Brian Rolapp appears onstage at an SBJ conference with NFL Chief Revenue Officer Renie Anderson, who could see more responsibility after his departure. Marc Bryan-Brown

The departure of the NFL’s second-in-command executive kicked off a flurry of speculation about who would replace Brian Rolapp — and how his broad portfolio might be divided — and what those moves will say about the pecking order in the league’s front office as Commissioner Roger Goodell enters his 20th season.

As chief media & business officer, Rolapp oversaw the league’s media licensing business, NFL Media, NFL Films, sponsorship and consumer products and 32 Equity, the increasingly important investment arm. Those divisions are the league’s lifeblood. Led by the licensing of live game rights, Rolapp’s divisions generate the $13B in league revenue that was distributed to the 32 teams last year — and 32 Equity has made the league a meaningful shareholder in growing companies like Genius Sports, Fanatics and Everpass Media.

Who would replace him? In the media vertical itself, Rolapp’s deputy, EVP/Media Distribution Hans Schroeder, would be the closest thing to a one-to-one successor. Schroeder, who joined the league in 2001, would represent continuity for the most critical business partners of the NFL, like Amazon, Disney, CBS Sports and others.

But it would be a big expansion in duties for Schroeder to take on sponsorship/products and 32 Equity as well, insiders say, and most experts I spoke with considered that unlikely. Schroeder lost oversight of NFL-owned media earlier this decade, and is not seen as a popular manager internally, sources said. If Schroeder replaces Rolapp on the media front only and Goodell took a status-quo approach, Chief Revenue Officer Renie Anderson — who oversees sponsorship and consumer products — could end up reporting directly to Goodell.

WNBA on ION Friday nights — ION has had Friday nights with the WNBA since 2023. Scripps Sports

The WNBA is staying on ION Friday nights. Scripps Sports and the league reached a multiyear agreement to keep ION the home of the WNBA on Friday nights, a deal that has been in place since 2023. Financial terms and the length of the deal were not disclosed.In 2025, 50 regular season games will air on ION, including the “WNBA on ION” studio show. The original agreement with the WNBA, which in its first year included 30 games, brought Scripps Sports its first sports property. The WNBA’s other media partners are ESPN, Prime Video and CBS, with NBC joining next year as part of the league’s new media agreements. Pacers fans The Pacers and Levy Restaurants unveiled six special dishes that will be available for remaining home NBA Finals games. Getty Images The Pacers and food partner Levy Restaurants unveiled “six special dishes that will be available” at Game 4 and Game 6, if necessary, of the NBA Finals. Levy Restaurants Executive Chef Charles Humphreys said that the “limited-edition concessions will only be available for the Pacers’ remaining Finals home games.” Tickets for Game 4 are fetching $850-$3,000 on Ticketmaster. The special concessions include:– The Boomer Stacker: Two smashed hamburger patties, a small fried pork tenderloin, double sharp cheddar cheese, bacon strips, fried onions and a drizzle of barbecue ranch.– Indiana Porkster: A fried tenderloin atop bratwurst simmered in Sun King Osiris Pale Ale, thick-cut bacon and a bacon onion jam, plus a drizzle of whole grain mustard.Read More >>>

The Tennessee Volunteers take on the Texas A&M Aggies during the Division I Mens Baseball Championship held at Charles Schwab Field — The 75th anniversary of the College World Series gets underway today at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha. NCAA Photos via Getty Images

The 75th anniversary of the College World Series gets underway today in Omaha, and it features eight teams “of all shapes and sizes, dreamers and big boys, small ball and big budgets.” Five of the eight — LSU, Coastal Carolina, Oregon State, Arizona and UCLA — have won national titles, while Arkansas has been to the CWS eight times. Then there is Louisville and Murray State, the latter of which “walked through the CWS tunnel for the first time” this week. The action gets started today with Arizona-Coastal Carolina at 2pm ET, while Louisville takes on Oregon State at 7pm — both at Charles Schwab Field (OMAHA WORLD-HERALD, 6/12).

Murray State, which spent $858,106 on its baseball program during the 2023-24 academic year, face UCLA (with a baseball budget of $4.19M) in Game 1 and then either LSU ($9.9M, third-largest budget in Division I) or Arkansas ($9.16M, fifth largest) in Game 2. The Racers are “reviving the Cinderella archetype both competitively … and financially” (Louisville COURIER-JOURNAL, 6/13). Like Fresno State, Stony Brook and Oral Roberts before it, Murray State is “about to be embraced as the College World Series’ lovable underdogs by local fans looking to adopt a team for the week.” Their merchandise “already is selling fast” (AP, 6/13).

Rodrigo Rejon driver of the #95 Chevrolet drives during practice for the NASCAR Mexico Series at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. — NASCAR called the pilot with Camb.ai “a significant step in making NASCAR content more inclusive and accessible.” Getty Images

AI-powered language translation platform Camb.ai will supply live, Spanish-language translations of Motor Racing Network radio broadcasts of NASCAR’s Mexico City Cup Race as part of a pilot with the racing series.

The translated radio feeds will be available in the NASCAR mobile app and website directly under its English counterpart. NASCAR, through a spokesperson, said providing live Spanish translations via MRN (which NASCAR owns and operates) is a first for the organization and that there are “plans to expand Spanish-language coverage across platforms based on fan response.”

Camb.ai’s speech-to-speech translation platform uses two AI models developed by the company — one a speech-to-text translation engine and the other a speech synthesizer that turns that translated text back into speech while emulating the emotional cues of the original speaker — to provide real-time translations in more than 140 languages.

NASCAR called the pilot “a significant step in making NASCAR content more inclusive and accessible.”

Tottenham Hotspur have lodged a claim against Ineos Automotive Limited, which is seeking to leave a five-year deal with the club two years early. Getty Images

Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur has “taken High Court legal action” against Manchester United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe‘s Ineos. The Premier League club has “lodged a claim against” Ineos Automotive Limited, a subsidiary of the multinational Ineos company. Spurs and Ineos announced a multimillion dollar, five-year deal in December 2022, but since at least February, talks “have been ongoing” over Ineos withdrawing two years before the expiration of the deal. Those negotiations “appear to have failed to find an agreement” (London TELEGRAPH, 6/13).

Ohio State basketball court — Ohio State will have two new court designs, one featuring the block ‘O’ when the team wears standard uniforms and another featuring a script “Buckeyes” when the team wears throwback unis. Ohio State Athletics

Ohio State will have a new basketball court next season, playing on a “gray court featuring scarlet painted keys and two interchangeable center court logos” starting this winter. There will be “options depending on which uniforms” the men’s and women’s basketball teams are wearing on a given night. The traditional “Block ‘O’ will be at center court for when the team wears more standard uniforms,” but on throwback games, those 10 pieces “will be replaced by a script Buckeyes logo to match the jerseys.” The new court “won’t arrive for a few months and has yet to be installed in the arena” (COLUMBUS DISPATCH, 6/13).

Paige Bueckers — Parity says the WNBA is the most popular women’s league — with 51% of U.S. women’s sports fans saying they are supporters. Getty Images

Forty-three percent of fans who support women’s sports are more inclined to buy a brand if it has a partnership with a female athlete, according to Parity’s “U.S. Women’s Sports 2025: Give The Fans What They Want” study. Fans who say they watch women’s sports frequently are 67% more likely to choose a brand represented by a female athlete.

Parity is a division of Group 1001 that connects woman athletes with sponsors and other business opportunities. Group 1001 is also the parent company of Gainbridge, a digital financial company who directs more than 40% of its total sports marketing budget multiple women’s sports properties, according to the company’s chief of sponsorship strategy and activation, Mike Nichols.

The survey, assembled by Parity and administered by SurveyMonkey April 8-11 from a national sample of 2,385 U.S. adults 18 or older, shows that fans more often lean into brand sponsorships with athletes as opposed to sponsors connected to a league, tournament or team.

Age is an additional factor Parity analyzes among fans who say they watch sports with 46% of Gen Z and Millennials being more prone to buy from brands that promote women athletes as well as women’s sports teams. Thirty-six percent of all sports fans favor women’s athlete brand sponsorships vs. 34% favoring a women’s sports team partnership.

Speed Reads…

Levy has been named the hospitality partner of the new Noblesville, Ind., area, the Arena at Innovation Mile (Levy Restaurants).

The Portland Thorns and WNBA ownership group will “bring an inaugural summit focused on business and investment opportunities in women’s sports” to Nike’s HQ from July 23-26 (PORTLAND BUSINESS JOURNAL, 6/13).

Around the World….

Inter Milan is “set to repay early” a $479.57M high-yield bond this month as the club “prepares to secure funds from a new debt deal” (REUTERS, 6/13).

The National Rugby League is “set to scrutinize comments” made by West Tigers CEO Shane Richardson “apparently suggesting referees have an inherent bias against teams” lower on the NRL ladder (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 6/13).

Social Scoop….

Below is a photo of all 12 MLB player manhole covers, along with a map of where and when they will be placed around Japan 🎨

Shohei Ohtani – June 16
Yusei Kikuchi – June 16
Roki Sasaki – June 16
Yu Darvish – June 17
Yuki Matsui – June 18
Shota Imanaga – June 19
Kenta Maeda -… https://t.co/dnTdCwTocM pic.twitter.com/xpsXDrHJZm

— MLB (@MLB) June 13, 2025

Daily Download….

Matthew and Camilla McConaughey are dropping their new “Official Tequila Of” commercial at the Austin FC home game tomorrow, as Pantalones Organic Tequila is an official sponsor of the team.

Daily Digit….

15,000 — Amount of Panthers’ season tickets that are sold out per season, helping the team post the fifth-best attendance in the NHL (BLOOMBERG, 6/13)